Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 for iPhone and iPad is definitely a game any Harry Potter fan should check out. From the very beginning you'll be completely immersed in the magical world of Harry we've all come to know and love. You'll start the game off playing as Harry. As you progress, you'll unlock more characters to play as. The controls are easy to learn and before you know it you'll be casting spells, brewing potions, and zooming around on a broomstick!

When you start the game you'll start from the very beginning. There are cut scenes every so often as you progress through the actual story line. To skip cut scenes, you can simply double tap. I personally don't typically skip them as I find them quite enjoyable. Most of the music in the game is music you find in all the movies, so if you enjoy the scores to the movies, you'll love it. If you didn't, well you can always turn the music off in settings.

After you hit your first save point in the game, you can quit to the lobby area. In the lobby, you'll see four doors which represent the 4 books the game covers - Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire. Once you complete one story line, you'll gain access to the next. If you ever want to go back to a previous story, you can jump back to the lobby and go back. I find myself doing this whenever I get stuck. I'll go back and find hidden secrets or items I didn't find the first time around.

The lobby also contains an area to view your Lego models as you unlock them. This area is located off to the left. Down the stairs you'll see an hour glass. When you stand in front of it, it will tell you how much game play time you've accumulated as well as the percentage of the game you've beaten. To the left from the bottom of the stairs, if you stand in front of the Weasley twins, you can browse the shop and buy items such as cut scenes, characters, and more with the Lego coins you've collected on your journey. The lobby is also where you'll be able to customize your character (clothes, features, etc).

The overall gameplay experience is great. The difficulty level increases at an even pace as you learn new spells and play through mini quests. As you go on, the game can be a little difficult at times. To me, that just means it will keep me busy for longer. As much as I love games like Cut the Rope, it didn't keep me occupied for very long.

I'm really enjoying playing through this game and I'd have to say I'm impressed with the quality. Sometimes moving your character around can be a little glitchy if you get stuck on the side of an object, but once you get the hang of it, it's all cake after that. If any of you TiPb readers out there picked up this game, let us know what you think in the comments as well!

Pros

Easy to learn controls
Gameplay difficulty increases at a pretty steady pace
Tons of secrets and items to unlock that will keep you busy
Music and cut scenes are cute and fun to watch in Lego form
Graphics are astounding, especially on iPhone 4 and iPad

Cons

Moving your character around can sometimes be glitchy, not very often though
Initially loading the game is somewhat annoying as there are about 8 banners before the actual click to begin game finally comes up
Save points are rather far apart, if you quit before one, you lose your progress. Keeping the game multitasked is an easy way to solve this issue though